Corporate Propaganda Still On the News

mofomojo writes, "Democracy Now! reports that a new study by the Center for Media and Democracy says Americans are still being shown corporate public relations videos disguised as news reports on newscasts across the country. In April, the Center identified 77 stations using Video News Releases in their newscasts; the findings led to an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission. A followup study has found that 10 of those stations are still airing VNRs today, for a new total of 46 stations in 22 states." From the article: "Most of the VNRs have aired on stations owned by large media conglomerates such as News Corp., Tribune, and Disney. They've also been sponsored by some of the country's biggest corporations including General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, and Allstate Insurance."

Re:what real news? ..

[XorNand]

For anyone who hasn't yet read it, I highly recommend that you read Paul Graham's blog post entitled "The Submarine" [paulgraham.com]. It's a very interesting insight into how PR firms craft the fake news that you describe.

Propaganda is all that comes out of 'the box'

[Anonymous Coward]

When the news is over, you then get Democrat party talking points andpolicy thinly disguised as sitcoms and Dramas (west wing, etc)

Sheesh. The Pentagon uses this method all the time

[Fantastic Lad]

I remember a study from a year back which showed that upwards of 90% of 'news' reports from Iraq all came from Pentagon press releases and contained aboslutely no fact checking or anything resembling actual investigative journalism. "Is your war budget justified?" "Oh, yes! Really, it is! Just look at the news."

-FL